The world looked like a watercolor painting if Rose squinted just right.
All the colors out the window blended together into a wash of hues. Reds and yellows, the first colors of fall, flared up here and there against the background of green and blue. And those colors brought to mind what she was going to endure at the end of the day. Her own Sorting.
Rose was nervous about it; she couldn't deny that. She had been twisting her robes in her hands since she sat down in the compartment next to her cousin Al. Listening in on the other conversations in the compartment wasn't doing her much good, either; James was discussing with Molly whether his brother would be in Slytherin or not, which Albus was either ignoring or stewing over, and Rose was wondering if she should have chosen a different compartment.
"See, he isn't brave at all, he really spends too much time watching," James went on. "It's a little creepy. Creepy House for the creepy brother."
"For the last time, there's nothing wrong with Slytherin," Molly sighed, staring out the window with her chin in her hands. "They're clever, and they're ambitious, and they value tradition. I wish you'd stop all this nonsense."
"They live in a dungeon, Molly, you've got to admit there's something not right about that."
At that, Al sat up a little straighter, looking like he was actually going to argue. And the door slid open with the cry, "Anything from the trolley?"
Snacks pacified them all, but Rose found that she couldn't eat her chocolate frog. All the reading she had done, and nothing could really prepare her for this. It wasn't as if she hadn't tried; gone through hundreds of personality tests on the Internet at night, for one, and asked all her friends and family where they thought she'd end up. Nothing could tell her what the hat was going to say once it settled down on her head.
She was finally drawn from her thoughts when the train ground to a halt. They were here. They were really here. She sprang up from her seat, startling Al, and almost tripped over him in her hurry to get off the train. Steam obscured everything around her, but the sky was clear and blue, and she could just make out a few dark spires over the thick clusters of trees all around.
With a thunk, Al hopped onto the platform behind her. "Why'd you run off, Rosie?"
"Oh, sorry, Al." They moved aside to let the rest of students onto the platform. The crowd that quickly gathered was overwhelming, and she had no idea where to go, but then a deafening cry of "Firs' years! Firs' years, over here!" put her at ease. She joined a sea of dark robes, staring up at a giant of a man. He had a dark beard streaked with gray and wore tattered robes and had the kindest black eyes Rose had ever seen.
Somewhere in the crowd, Rose caught her cousin's voice. "Hi, Hagrid!"
"James! Have a good summer, did yeh?" The man raised a massive hand and waved. "Stay outta trouble?"
Rose looked over her shoulder in time to see him shrug. "I guess."
"You guess wrong," Albus muttered.
"Well, better get goin', don't miss the carriages. Firs' years, come along, all of yeh!" He turned his gaze back towards the crowd at his feet. So this was the groundskeeper. He was a little scarier than Rose remembered anyone mentioning, but she had a feeling she couldn't make that judgement yet. He raised his arms once more, indicating the forest ahead. "No fallin' behind, 'specially you little ones in the back. Follow me."
A little path through the increasingly dark forest led them to a shoreline. Black water gently lapped the pebbles on the beach, and a row of boats awaited them. Albus helped Rose get into one, and it looked as if he only did it because he wanted to stay on land as long as possible. Rose tried to help him in, in turn, but the boat rocked and he toppled over, bumping his head on a bench.
"This is turning out to be a bad day," he grumbled, and Rose patted him sympathetically on the head and helped him up.
"It'll get better," she told him. "Soon, we'll be eating a feast in the Great Hall, and then we'll be seeing our common rooms—"
"Our dungeons," Al said miserably.
"I hear it's cozy enough," Rose said, trying not to think too hard about it.
The boat rocked again, and Rose looked up. Two boys were climbing in; one with dark brown hair in a ponytail and a cheerful look on his face, and the other so pale he looked like a ghost.
"Spooky, isn't it?" the first boy said, gesturing towards the lake. "Did you know there's a giant squid in there? I'd love to see it up close."
Rose and Albus exchanged a glance.
"Sorry." The boy held out his hand. "Lorcan. Lorcan Lovegood-Scamander."
Rose shook it first, telling him her name, and Al followed suit a little more hesitantly. Then the other boy sat down next to Lorcan, and Rose looked to him. "What's your name?" she asked.
"Scorpius," he said, looking slightly to the left of her head.